Fairbanks did come that afternoon. I wish I knew how he did that. Being able to pull strings from so far up top was crazy. I was so embarrassed about the entire situation I almost didn’t answer the phone when it rang. After talking with Dr. Fairbanks for some time, careful to skirt around the details, I agreed to come in that day and reclaim my little corner of the Kepler room. Dr. Fairbanks had different plans for me, however. His only caveat to my return was that I accept his former offer of the Team Lead position. He didn’t sound desperate. Rather, he was insistent that they were more in need of a leader than a data-monkey. The position would move me out of the Kepler room and into the NuSTAR room with my own fully-functioning desk space which was not smushed into the corner of a glorified supply closet. Twist my arm, why don’t you. Quite frankly, I was scared out of my mind to not only accept my job back, but to gain a promotion out of the whole thing.
